Posted: Tue Sep 01, 2015 3:31 pm Post subject: Portugal - Is Lisbon the best place for work / living?

I've decided to make Portugal my next destination for the coming few years. I've heard lots of good things regarding general lifestyle and cost of living, but am still somewhat in the dark about the work situation. I've heard the Portugese are generally much more capable with English than other Latin countries.

I have 4 years teaching experience in companies (in spain and central europe) am native British and have the CELTA. I also have a secondary income currently which means i will be earning approximately 600 GBP per month, and a little bit saved, so have a decent safety net.

Are there sufficient opportunities for teaching adults in companies and privates in Lisbon? Also, if anyone has general tips on other cities and the lifestyle there that'd be great.

Nice post.. I will also be considering Lisbon in the next few years. Looking to hear from peeps about the teaching opportunities there. I think I will be checking out Lisbon next summer (2016) and I will stay for a few months to see how I like it.

If you or anyone else wants to meet then or share info now then great...

On holiday in Lisbon 2 summers ago and liked it so much I thought about working there. Excellent sea food, cool, good-looking city, easy to get around, great escapes just along the coast, eg. Cascais (in fact there was a school there too) . Go for it!

There's some work in Portugal, but it can take a lot of effort to find. I used to work there and still have friends working there. Many teachers stay in their jobs longer than other countries I've worked in.

If you really want to work there you're probably best just going in mid-September and looking hard.

It's a wonderful city but I find Porto just as attractive, maybe even more so.

It might be worth sending speculative apps to IH in both cities. The Cambridge School is a country-wide chain with schools there too.

I like Porto too; a different feel from Lisbon.

It's definitely worth sending speculative applications, but not only to Cambridge and IH. Search online for language schools. I did this about four years ago (and I have no reason to think it's changed) and from around 40 schools I found one willing to give me a part-time job which turned into a full-time job.

I would LOVE to teach in Portugal! I am currently processing my Portuguese citizenship which will help a lot with getting employment there. However, I have seen that there are very few job ads for Portugal, maybe I'm not looking in the right places (at least on the internet).

The job market isn't very large and most contracts are Sept/Oct through June. Your best bet is to go over in August/September and interview in person. It's pretty rare to find something from abroad in this region, and this is definitely not the main hiring period.

On Lisbon itself I can say it was very nice.. Good cafes, variety of restaurants, nice architecture, and a pleasant place to be in. It is quite lively but still has a town feel to it rather than a major city. The airport closes for a couple of hours from around 1-4am or something so don't get stuck waiting outside like I did!

I have a friend who has lived and worked in Portugal for a long time who says the same as spiral - tough working conditions with low pay and not many jobs. However, would this be the same for Lisbon, I don't know, because he was talking about the towns in the north mainly. Lisbon does seem to be on the up to me..